SINGAPORE NATURE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2017 COMPETITION RULES GOVERNING THE COMPETITION

Transcription

1 SINGAPORE NATURE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2017 COMPETITION RULES GOVERNING THE COMPETITION The English Language Version of these competition rules ( the Rules ) is binding. 1. ABOUT THE COMPETITION 1. The Singapore Nature Photographer of the Year Competition ( the Competition ) is owned by the Nature Photographic Society, Singapore (NPSS) ( the Organiser ). 2. The Competition is open to all photographers residing in Singapore, regardless of nationality. The Competition is organised in two sections: a. Open Section. This is open to participants age 27 years or older on 1 January The winner of this Section will be awarded the Singapore Nature Photographer of the Year b. Youth Section. This is open to participants between the age of 18 years and 26 years on 1 January The winner of this Section will be awarded the Singapore Young Nature Photographer of the Year The Competition will be held over a period of 9 months starting from 1 st January The final winners are selected based on the total score of the entries submitted over three quarters in The total score is the sum of the Participant s scores from shortlisted entries per quarter. 4. Each entry comprises a single image along with a write-up not exceeding 300 words. The write-up should convey insights into the species behaviour, habitat, ecology or environmental pressures or concerns threatening its existence. Description of the geological and environmental factors or weather conditions plus the technique used to capture the image are also accepted in the write-up. 2. CONDITIONS OF ENTRY 1. Entries in each quarter must be submitted online, via the Singapore Nature Photographer of the Year Competition website by 31 March PM Singapore time, 31 June PM Singapore time, and 30 September PM Singapore time, to qualify for the First, Second, and Third Quarter respectively. Entries submitted past each quarterly deadline will be automatically considered as submission for the following quarter. Any entry submitted after 30 September 2017 will be disqualified. 2. Images submitted for the Competition must be the ORIGINAL WORK of the Participant who own sole copyrights to the images. Images of animals and birds in captivity will not be accepted for the Competition. 3. Images submitted must not include any Hand Of Man ( HOM ) elements. HOM elements refer to any man-made structure or human element, which include but not limited to: Still Life Objects People Buildings Transport & Infrastructure Plane Contrails 4. The winning photographers grants the Organiser, sponsors and its supporting partners the non-exclusive right to reproduce, display and use the entries in an exhibition organised in Singapore ( the Exhibition ) or for any promotional materials such as media/press releases, media pitches, online pages/website, or any other publicity materials relating to the Competition and Exhibition, or for non-commercial use to promote nature awareness & conservation in Singapore. Such publications containing the winning entries may be sold to recover the cost of printing. Photographer credit will be included wherever possible. 1

2 5. Members of the NPSS Executive Committee are prohibited from participating in this Competition. 6. The Organiser, sponsors & supporting partners are prohibited from distributing or selling the entries to other parties without the consent of the photographer. 3. SUBMISSION & CATEGORIES 1. Entry is free for NPSS members. Entry fee for non-npss members is $20 per quarter. 2. Participants are allowed and encouraged to submit a maximum of 12 entries per quarter (maximum 4 entries per category for Open Section). Additional entries for that quarter will be disqualified. However, only ONE shortlisted entry per category per quarter will be taken into account for calculation of total score. 3. Shortlisted entries of the previous quarter cannot be resubmitted in subsequent quarters. 4. The Competition consists of the following categories: 1. Open Section 3 categories 1. Landscape 2. Avian / Wildlife 3. Underwater / Macro 2. Youth Section 1. Landscape/Avian/Wildlife/Underwater/Macro in 1 category 4. IMAGE SPECIFICATIONS 1. Each image must be submitted as JPEG, with 1500 pixels along the longest dimension and at maximum file size of 2MB. 2. Images should not include any borders, watermarks, identifying marks, signatures, and names. 3. Photos that have been digitally altered beyond standard image quality optimization (removal of dust specks, cropping, reasonable adjustments to exposure, colour and contrast, etc.) will be disqualified. Multiple exposures that have been combined to produce a single High Dynamic Range image, stitched panoramas, focus stacking taken at the same location and the same time are acceptable provided that they are reported in the write-up. Images that do not meet these requirements may be disqualified at the Judges sole discretion. 4. Images submitted can be in colour or monochrome, and can be shot in or outside of Singapore unless specified by the theme for that quarter. 5. Submitted image files must comply with the following file-naming convention: Q1_Category_FullName_serialnumber.jpg where: 1. Q1 = Quarter 1, Q2 = Quarter 2, Q3= Quarter 3 2. Category refers to LS for Landscape, AW for Avian/Wildlife, UM for Underwater/Macro, and YP for Youth Section 3. Serial number is a 2 digit number from 01 to 04 for the sequential numbering of the Participant s entries in each category. 6. Shortlisted Winners will be required to provide the following: 1. RAW files (eg.cr2,.nef,.orf,.pef etc), original untouched JPEGs, or original transparencies or negatives, for authentication. DNG files are only permitted if this is the native RAW format of the camera 2. High-resolution files (preferably TIFF) with at least 3000 pixels along the longest dimension and file size not exceeding 500MB. These images should be in 8-bit, Adobe RGB (1998), and match the colour and cropping of the JPEG submitted at entry for printing purpose. Please do not upscale the images. 2

3 3. Proof of residence in Singapore. 7. Any entry that cannot be authenticated or is not of acceptable quality will be disqualified. 5. JUDGING & POINT SYSTEM 1. An independent panel of judges comprising of industry professionals and nature photography experts will be appointed by the Organiser to select the winning entries in all categories. 2. Judging will be based each entry s relevance to the theme, and its technical, aesthetics and creative aspects. 3. Each image submitted must be accompanied by a write-up not exceeding 300 words, which will be taken into consideration during judging. 4. Only the top 10 shortlisted entries per category per quarter will be announced. Points will be awarded to the shortlisted entries based on the following: 1. 1 st position 10 points 2. 2 nd position 9 pointts 3. 3 rd position 8 points and so on until th position 1 point Each participant will have only 1 shortlisted entry per category per quarter. First position in each category and Youth Section will win the Quarterly Category Prize. 5. Results per quarter will be announced online 6 weeks after the closing of the quarter entry deadline, with the exception of the final quarter which will be announced during the prize giving presentation. 6. All points awarded to each participant per quarter will accumulate over the 3 quarters to decide the winner of the Singapore Nature Photographer of the Year 2017 and Young Nature Photographer of the Year All points awarded to each participant in each category will accumulate over the 3 quarters to decide the winners for Category Prizes (Landscape, Avian/Wildlife, Underwater/Macro) in Open Section. 8. Winners will be asked to provide raw files to the Organiser for authentication. See Section 4, (6). 9. The Judges reserves the right not to award any prizes if the entries submitted do not meet the rules, ethics or requirements stated herein or are not up to Judges expectation. 10. The decision of the Judges and the Organiser is final. 6. AWARDS & PRIZES 1. Singapore Nature Photographer of the Year (S$3,000 cash + S$4,000 Canon e- Voucher) This award is given to the Participant with the highest total score accumulated across all categories and over the three quarters of the Competition. 2. Landscape Photographer of the Year (S$1,000 cash + S$1,500 Canon e-voucher This award is given to the Participant with the highest total score accumulated in the Landscape Category over the three quarters of the Competition. 3. Avian/Wildlife Photographer of the Year (S$1,000 cash + S$1,500 Canon e-voucher) This award is given to the Participant with the highest total score accumulated in the Avian/Wildlife Category over the three quarters of the Competition. 4. Underwater/ Macro Photographer of the Year (S$1,000 cash + S$1,500 Canon e- Voucher) 3

4 This award is given to the Participant with the highest total score accumulated in the Underwater/Macro Category over the three quarters of the Competition. 5. A Participant may win only ONE of the four top prizes listed in para 6.1 to 6.4 above. In the event that a Participant is first position in two or more categories, he/she will be awarded only the prize for his/her highest scoring category. The prize(s) for the other category/categories will then be awarded to the Participant with next highest score in that category/categories. 6. Young Nature Photographer of the Year (S$1,000 cash + S$1,500 Canon e-voucher) This award is given to the Participant with the highest total score accumulated in the Youth Section over the three quarters of the Competition. 7. Quarterly Category Prizes in each Category and Youth Section (S$250 cash) For each quarter, prizes will be awarded to the top entry for each category and Youth Section. The prize consists of S$ cash for each of the following: a. SNPY Landscape Prize for Quarter 1/2/3. b. SNPY Avian/Wildlife Prize for Quarter 1/2/3. c. SNPY Underwater/Macro Prize for Quarter 1/2/3. d. SNPY Young Photographer Prize for Quarter 1/2/3. A Participant may win more than one Quarterly Category Prizes for any particular quarter. 7. Prize presentation ceremony for all winners is scheduled in late Winners will be notified via phone, and/or to attend the prize presentation ceremony. 8. The prize winners will be announced on the Competition website. The prizes are nontransferable or exchangeable. The Organiser reserves the right to substitute the whole or part of any of the listed prizes with an alternative of equal monetary value. 7. PUBLICITY 1. Participants agree that, if their entry is selected by the Judges, they may be asked to participate in related publicity and agree to the use of their name and likeness for the purposes of advertising, promotion and publicity of the Competition and/or the Exhibition without compensation. 8. ETHICS 1. All entries must comply with NPSS Code of Conduct. 2. Subjects must not be displaced from their natural habitat for ease of shooting. If the subject(s) is/are not in its original habitat or state, the Participant must state so in the write-up. 3. Participants are not allowed to do anything that harm or stress any animal or destroy its habitat in an attempt to photograph the subject. For images captured in Singapore s nature reserves, parks & gardens, the NParks rules & regulations on park users must be adhered to. The Organiser reserves the right to withdraw the award any time should the code of conduct be broken. Participant must compensate and/or return the award given. 4. Entries which the Organiser and/or Judges suspect that have been achieved via any unethical practices will be disqualified. 5. The Organiser and/or Judges reserve the right to request for any raw files to authenticate if the images had violated any ethical practices. 4

5 9. ACCEPTANCE OF RULES & REGULATIONS 1. Submission of entries signifies acceptance of the rules, the Ethics and the requirements of the Competition. Any breach of the rules and regulations by a participant will void his/her submission. 2. It is the legal responsibility of each Participant to read the Rules and ensure each and every entry complies with the Rules. The Participant will be liable to the Organiser, the sponsors and their partners for any damages or loss incurred as a breach of the Rules by the Participant. 3. The Organiser reserves the right to amend any of the rules and regulations without prior notice. Any amendments will be published on and it is the Participant s responsibility to check the website for any such amendments. 5

6 ANNEX A - NPSS CODE OF ETHICS IN THE FIELD 1. Habitat & Environment (1) Do not destroy or damage the environment or habitat where photographic subjects are located. (2) Stay on existing roads, trails, and paths; keep habitat disturbance to a minimum. (3) Do not litter in the field. 2. Subject Welfare (1) Learn the subject s behavior and know when to back off and not to interfere with subject s life cycle. (2) Know your equipment such as the minimum focusing distance, there is no point in moving within a few centimeters of a subject when you are using longer Macro lens. (3) Avoid stressing the subject. If a subject shows stress, move out of the subject s comfort zone and use a longer lens or move right away. (4) Do not force a subject into an unnatural environment in order to take a good photo. (5) Before publicizing the presence of a rare subject, evaluate the potential disturbance to the subject and its environment. 3. Nesting birds (1) Maintain a distance from nests, nesting colonies, roosts, display areas and feeding sites. For such sensitive site, the use of blinds and remote trigger is encouraged. (2) Do not use birdcall playback devices at nesting areas. (3) Do not post any active nesting bird images until chicks are safely fledged (4) Do not touch the nests, eggs, chicks and their surrounding. Do not remove some branches for a better view, as doing so may expose the subject to predators. 4. Photographic Accessories (1) Use artificial light sparingly particularly when the subject is close. (2) Use only diffused light for close-up images whenever possible 6

7 (3) Clamping accessories such as Plamp may damage the fragile stems of some plants. If it does, refrain from using it. 5. Individual Behavior (1) Practice common courtesy when in contacts with other photographers. Ask before joining others in shooting the same subject. (2) Do not obstruct the view of other photographers who are at the site before you. (3) Keep your voice low in order not to disturb the subjects, other photographers and site visitors. (4) Inform others tactfully to stop them from engaging in inappropriate, harmful or dangerous behavior. (5) Report inappropriate behavior to the relevant authorities when necessary. In addition to the above mentioned code of ethics, NPSS also adheres to the principles of birding ethics as stated by the American Birding Association. 7